Storage rack



A. BRANDES Nov. 30, 1965 STORAGE RACK Filed June 14, 1963 INVENTOR c/ZTiZzurBranciegS United States PatentO 3,220,557 STORAGE RACK ArthurBrandes, Monrovia, Calif., assignor to Ekco Products Company, Chicago,11]., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 14, 1963, Ser. No. 287,923 1Claim. (Cl. 211-40) This invention relates to storage racks and findsparticular utility in the storage of cylindrical tape reel containersand the like.

An important object of the present invention is the provision of a rackhaving individual container holding compartments in which containers areslidably retained in rearward and downwardly inclined positions andaccordingly biased by gravity to maintain a storage position within saidrack.

A further object resides in providing a rack in which each container ismade readily accessible for removal from a storage positionnotwithstanding the fact that the rack allows the containers to occupystorage positions at a minimum distance apart while the circularperimeters of said containers are in aligned relation along linesprojected vertically of said perimeters.

It is therefore another important object of the invention to provide apair of stops with which the container has rearward engagement toestablish a storage position of said container, and each of said stopspresents a fulcrum about which a container engaged therewith is operableby pressure against an exposed rim of the container to swing forwardlyof the companion stop and thereby occupy a withdrawal position whereinthe container is sufliciently forward of its storage position to enablemarginal portions of opposite end walls of said container to be readilygrasped for complete removal from the rack.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a rack of simpleconstruction, economical of manufacture and which will be reliable andefficient in service.

Other objects and advantages will be more apparent from the followingdescription and accompanying drawing and the essential features will beset forth in the appended claims.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a storage rack constructed in accordancewith the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 withcylindrical tape reel containers shown in storage as well as withdrawalposition therein.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2showing several containers in storage position.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view of a shelf member and itsconnection to the frame of the rack.

A rack of the type to which the present invention relates is illustratedin the drawings as comprising a first upright rectangular frame A havingupright limits thereof defined by front and rear upright members and 11and a second similar rectangular frame B having upright limits thereofdefined by front and rear upright members 12 and 13, said frames beingjoined in spaced parallel relation by top and bottom cross members 14and 15 respectively to define a frontward facing open area between saidframes of desired dimension determined by the diametrical dimension ofthe containers to be stored in said space. Each of said upright membersis of U or channel shaped stock having spaced parallel flanges joined bya connecting web, with the flanges of the rear members 11 and 13extending forwardly of the web connecting said flanges and with theflanges of the front members 10 and 12 extending rearwardly of the webconnecting said flanges.

. 3,220,557 Patented Nov. 30, 1965 The area between said frames A and Bis divided along parallel lines extending rearwardly and downwardly fromsaid front upright members 10 and 12 by shelf members at distances apartcorresponding to the end wall to end wall dimension of the containers tobe stored in said space. As shown, each shelf member comprises a wirerod bent to provide a pair of legs 16 and .17 of uniform dimensionjoined in spaced parallel relation by an integral bridge portion 18. Thelegs 16 and 17 are recessed in openings in the innermost flanges of thefront and rear upright members of each frame A and B in equally spacedapart relation lengthwise of the vertical dimension of said uprightmembers conforming to the desired spacing between said shelf members.Each of the openings in the front support members contain tubular cliptype fasteners 19 with which the legs 16 of each of the shelf membershas a force fit while each of the openings in the rear support memberscontain similar fasteners with which the leg 17 of each shelf member hasa force fit. Thus the legs 16 and 17 in cooperation with the openingscontaining the tubular clip type fasteners 19 in the uprights of theframes A and .B establish a fixed connection between said shelf membersand said uprights, with the bridge portion 18 of the shelf memberssecured to frame A and the bridge portion 18 of the shelf memberssecured to frame B arranged in transversely aligned pairs at suchdistance apart as to be spanned by the diametrical dimensions of thecontainer C to be supported thereon, as shown in FIG. 2. Each bridgeportion 18 is offset downwardly from the leg 17 to define an uprightportion 18a at the junction between said bridge portion 18 and said leg17. Thus bridge portions 18 of the shelf members extend rearwardly anddownwardly in uniformly spaced apart relation measured vertically of thearea between frames A and B of the rack corresponding to the end wall toend wall dimension of the container to be stored, while the uprightportions 13a of each pair of transversely aligned shelf members define apair of stops with which a container while supported on said shelfmembers has rearward engagement at circumfeerntially spaced apartportions of the container substantially conforming to the quadrant of acircle defined by the circular side wall of the container. It will benoted that the legs 16 and 17 of the shelf members are effective tolocate the stops 18a at uniform distances in inwardly spaced relation tothe area between the frames A and B. Accordingly the stops 18a are alsoeifective to establish the container in central relation between theframes A and B while functioning to establish the rearward storageposition of the container.

As shown in the drawings, the shelf members are of such limiteddimension as to offer only a minimum of space between each container andcontainers next above and below said containers while said containersare in storage position. Removal of a selected container from a storageposition is therefore an inconvenient operation since the exposedsurfaces of the containers while in such position are not readilygrasped by the fingers of the person seeking to accomplish such removalof the con tainer. In accordance with the present invention, a marginalportion of the upper and lower end walls of the container to be removedis displaced forwardly to occupy a withdrawal position throughfacilities incorporated in the construction of the rack. Movement of thecontainer from such storage position to a withdrawal position (as shownin FIG. 2) is achieved by utilizing either of said stops 18a as afulcrum about which the container is swingable forwardly away from theother stop 18a in response to pressure applied to either of the exposedside wall portions of the container which straddle a plane extendingforwardly of and midway between said stops 18a. It will be noted thatthe area in which the container is free to move from such storageposition to said withdrawal position is open except for the surfaces ofthe front uprights and 11 which face the area occupied by the container.Such surfaces thus form a second pair of stops 10a and 12a which can bedefined as occupying positions along a line I-I from which the majorportion of the container extends rearwardly and which coincide withintersections of said line I-I by a second pair of line II and IIIextending in uniformly forward diverging relation to said stops 18a withthe distance between said stops 10a and 12a sufficient to accommodatethe diametrical dimensions of the containers.

By utilizing upright members 10, 11, 12 and 13 of channel shaped stock,the ends of the legs 16 and 17 of the shelf members are confined withinthe area between the inner and outer flanges of said upright members.Thus the outwardly facing surfaces of said upright members are free ofdisfigurement or protruding parts and 7 thereby adapted to have closemating relation with corresponding surfaces of the upright members oflike racks to establish a neat grouping of such racks when so desired.

It is believed that the advantages of a rack for storing cylindricalfilm and tape reel containers constructed in accordance with the presentinvention will be readily understood and although a preferred embodimentof the rack is as illustrated and described, it is to be understood thatchanges in the details of construction and in combination andarrangement of parts may be resorted to which fall within the scope ofthe invention as claimed.

What is claimed is:

A rack for the storage of cylindrical tape reel containers and the like,said rack having first and second duplicate frame assemblies joined inspaced parallel upright relation to define a storage area therebetween,each frame assembly including a front upright member of channel shapedcontour with the channel facing rearwardly, and a rear upright memberduplicating said front upright member with the flanges thereof extendingfore and aft of the frame assembly with which it is associated, a firstseries of container supporting wire rods of duplicate size and shape,each having opposite end sections bent to provide a pair of legs and abridge section joining said legs in spaced parallel relation, said frontand rear upright members of the first frame assembly having openingsformed in the flange portion thereof facing the storage area into whichthe legs of said rods project whereby said rods are fixed to said frameassembly with the bridge sections of said rods arranged along uniformlyvertically spaced apart parallel downwardly and rearwardly inclinedlines within said storage area and the ends of the legs projectedthrough said openings being totally confined within the channel of theupright to which said legs are secured, a second series of containersupporting Wire rods of size and shape duplicating said first series ofrods, said front and rear upright members of the second frame assemblyhaving openings formed in the flange portions thereof facing the storagearea into which the legs of said rods project whereby the bridgesections of said second series of rods are fixed to said second frameassembly along vertically spaced apart parallel lines Within saidstorage area in paired transversely aligned relation to the bridgesections of the first series of rods, and the ends of the legs of secondseries of rods being totally confined within the channel of the uprightto which said legs are secured, each of said first and second series ofrods having an upright section at the junction of its bridge section andthe rearwardmost leg thereof, said upright section of each rod and therod with which it is transversely paired defining stops with which theperimeter of a container has rearward engagement to establish the storedposition of a container when an end wall of a container has downwardengagement with the bridge portions of said transversely paired rods,said stops of said transversely paired rods being at such distance apartas to allow either stop to provide a fulcrum about which a container hasswinging movement forwardly of the other stop between said storedposition and a withdrawal position sufficiently forward of said storedposition to enable marginal portions of opposite end walls of acontainer to be readily grasped for complete removal from said rack.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,961,391 6/1934Reedy 99446 2,118,461 5/1938 Dempsey 211181 2,587,269 2/ 1952 Yerkes211-40 2,620,254 12/ 1952 Beckett 312351 2,936,077 5/ 1960 Carpenter211-126 2,982,422 5/ 1961 Asproyerakas 211134 1 FOREIGN PATENTS 899,4666/1962 Great Britain.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Examiner.

